Prepping my Metro door panels for paint and .... ?

[cudaize]

hen grab a damp sponge to wipe them off and the sponge is totally black.  huh?  They're brand new.  Why is the sponge black?  So I rinse them off and wash them again.  And again... black on the sponge.  So I washed them a third time and I am still getting some black on my sponge. 

I noticed with my black Metro panels they were painted or dyed when I bought them.  I'm not sure if all the Metro panels have this done to them or only certain batches if the color is a little off.  I would keep cleaning them until no more black comes off.  There is a chance that your panels were painted but not properly prepped, so you don't want to dye over that.

[Mr Lee]

Mr Lee,

If you don't mind, take a group picture of the products you used for me to reference down the road 

Looks like the paint added texture?

No I don't think the paint added any texture.  It just lets the existing texture of the panel show through, as it should.

Here is a pic of the products I used.  From left to right is the order in which you use them.

SEM soap - to clean the panels (with soap and water)
Plastic and Leather prep - is a solvent you wipe everything down with - to get any oils from your fingertips etc right before you spray
Plastic Adhesion Promoter - this gets sprayed on right before you spray the color.  It's like primer but clear.  It helps the paint to stick really well.
Color Coat - this is the paint you spray on as the final color.
This stuff comes in aerosol cans or by the quart if you have an air spray gun.

Oh, there is another SEM product for prepping vinyl (not pictured).  It's called Vinyl Prep I think.  That's for doing stuff like the dash, the door grabs, and sunvisor pads I assume?  (soft stuff)  And maybe seat covers?  I haven't used that yet.  And I don't know if anyone else here has used it but when I do the dash, I'm going to use that. 

The can all the way to the right - Restoration Shop Acrylic Lacquer - is what I used to paint the metal dash FRAME (and glove box door, ash tray door) as well as the steering column - this is a textured paint to match the factory suede finish - I believe only the 70-71 models get this?  But someone may correct me on that.  But those are the only places on the car that the suede paint goes, the dash frame and the steering column. 



Hope that helps and good luck. 

[Mr Lee]

hen grab a damp sponge to wipe them off and the sponge is totally black.  huh?  They're brand new.  Why is the sponge black?  So I rinse them off and wash them again.  And again... black on the sponge.  So I washed them a third time and I am still getting some black on my sponge. 

I noticed with my black Metro panels they were painted or dyed when I bought them.  I'm not sure if all the Metro panels have this done to them or only certain batches if the color is a little off.  I would keep cleaning them until no more black comes off.  There is a chance that your panels were painted but not properly prepped, so you don't want to dye over that.

Are you sure?  And they were brand new I assume?  Can't imagine why they would be painted.  These are injection molded.  And from what I know about that, its a process where they start out with little plastic pellets that are the same color as the finished product.   They're heated and pressed into a mold.  So, the product is the same color all the way through. Meaning, you could cut the piece in half and it would be the same color on the inside as it is the outside.  So not sure why they would be painted.  I think they know we're going to paint them once we get them. 

In any case, I painted mine already and they look great.  The first door panel, I scrubbed it 3 times.  The other door panel I just washed lightly once and let it dry.  Then followed the regular procedure to paint them as all the rest of the panels.   

[Jocigar]

Thank you !!  you went above and beyond.   

Did you prime dash frame and column first ? 

I wonder if they offer color coat in white..

[Mr Lee]

Thank you !!  you went above and beyond.   

Did you prime dash frame and column first ? 

I wonder if they offer color coat in white..

No problem.  Glad I could help someone on here for once.  I feel like people are always helping me so...

Yes, you should prime any metal parts with primer... including the side covers for the seats, windshield / window trim on the interior that are metal.  The metal pieces don't need the adhesion promoter, etc. from what I understand, just prep them as you would with primer and make sure they're clean before painting... and of course get any rust off.  I stripped my windshield trim down to bare metal on the bench grinder with a wire wheel and that got any bit of rust off and got them nice and clean, but didn't hurt the grain.  A bead blaster would have been good too.   But if yours aren't rusty then you might not need to strip them to bare metal like I did.   

I would think that they have at least one shade of white.   It's been awhile since I bought it but I think they can mix up whatever color you want?   

[anlauto]

Maybe it's just me, but I find when you prime metal parts first, they tend to scratch easier ? I like using a good quality paint right over a well prepped metal part

[JS29]

On bare metal I use etch-primer, A thin coat.   

[Mr Lee]

Self etching primer, yes.

I wouldn't paint anything metal without priming it first - at least not bare metal.  Just like you wouldn't paint the body of a car without priming it first.   

[HEMICUDA]

Maybe it's just me, but I find when you prime metal parts first, they tend to scratch easier ? I like using a good quality paint right over a well prepped metal part

I have to be very careful commenting against this "expert" member, I might get another "vacation", with that said, a "quality" shop will never paint over bare metal with paint, ever.  

[HEMICUDA]

Yeah I started using some Simple Green as a pre-wash, figuring that it would help me to save from using up all the SEM soap early on because I was going through it pretty fast.  I assume that Simple green would be good since it's a degreaser but not harsh, and not a solvent.    It seemed to work well.  Then I finished with the SEM soap.   

Yeah it's weird, I wasn't scrubbing the new door panels hard or anything.  Was really surprised to see them get my sponge all black.
off gas color?  Was that a typo or...  not sure what that means?  I wonder if these aftermarket panels are a different type of plastic than the originals.
The next step after the SEM soap was to wipe with the SEM Plastic / Leather Prep which is a solvent, and when I did that, the rag turned black also.  Again, these are brand new.  There shouldn't be any significant dirt on there.  It was clearly the plastic rubbing off on the rag.  Strange. 
In any case, I got them clean and I am gonna shoot them today, hopefully.   

The manufacturer of these panels, as good as they are, had an issue with tint in the material when they were injected.  The panels came out slightly "iridescent" so they had to be dyed to make the color consistent.  Not sure if all the panels were that way since they've been run, at least, three times now.

[anlauto]

Self etching primer, yes.

I wouldn't paint anything metal without priming it first - at least not bare metal.  Just like you wouldn't paint the body of a car without priming it first.

@Mr Lee What type/brand of primer do you use on your steering column parts pictured above ?

[Mr Lee]

Self etching primer, yes.

I wouldn't paint anything metal without priming it first - at least not bare metal.  Just like you wouldn't paint the body of a car without priming it first.

@Mr Lee What type/brand of primer do you use on your steering column parts pictured above ?

Sorry, I honestly don't remember what I used... if it was an automotive grade epoxy primer that I sprayed with an pneumatic gun or if I just used some rattle can self-etching primer (like Rustoleum).  I did it several years ago.   But when I sprayed my metal interior trim pieces the other day, I used the self-etching rattle can primer from Rustoleum on the bare metal before I painted.   

[anlauto]

I'll have to try that next time, thanks for the tip.

[Jocigar]

Primer discussion is interesting.   On the surface it seems logical especially on body sheetmetal.

I used Seymour rattle cans directly onto blasted suspension parts 25 years ago and they held up very well.  especially the cast gray finish, the silver pigment had some pinhead rust showing.   
 
On the other hand, I freshly blasted my hood hinges and used SEM self etch and two months later it had rust breaking through.   

last summer, I used rustolium primer and Seymour paint and eastwood diamond clear during my suspension refurbishment, they did scratch easy, especially if primer didn't have several days to harden... we'll see how they do over time.   

One thing for sure, I don't trust SEM self etch primer in rattle can anymore... so suggestion are welcome. 

I know painting with a gun would be better all around.

thx!

[Mr Lee]

This may be a good topic to start a new thread on.  Yeah, your situation seems mysterious.

First off, I am no expert on paint and body work.  I took a year of auto body in high school and am a backyard DIY'er.  That said...
Did you prep all those parts the same way?    Wipe them down good with some solvent prior to painting.
Was the surface scuffed properly?  It cant be too smooth. 
Was the temperature different?
Humidity?
The time you wait between laying the primer down and then the paint is also something to note.  Wait too long (like 24 hours) the primer totally dries (too much) and then you're supposed to scuff it lightly before you paint.   Someone feel free to correct me.  Again just stating what I think is true and from what I've read.  You're supposed to lay down the primer, let it "flash" which means let the liquid dry out of it (just a few minutes) but don't let it dry totally cause then it will harden, then lay the paint on so it can stick better.  If you're using a rattle can the directions state this on the can. 
My two cents.  There are tons of very knowledgeable guys on here who know a hell of a lot more than I do though.